Transsexual Japanese denied right to be called father

A transsexual has accused a Japanese court of discrimination after its refusal to recognize him as the father of his child in a ruling that meant the child must be registered as born out of wedlock.

The 30-year old naturally born female had a sex-change to become a man and legally married in 2008. He sought to be registered as the father of his wife’s child, born by way of artificial insemination, but his request was turned down by the Tokyo Family Court, which said that he was physically not capable of reproduction. Sterile men, on the other hand, are recognized as the fathers of babies born using artificial insemination, AFP reports.

“I feel I am being discriminated against,” the man , whose name was not reported, said.

“Under the law, Japan decided to treat me as a man. I would like to receive the same treatment as a father too,” the man told local journalists Friday, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.

National broadcaster quoted the man as saying, “I will continue to fight so that I can live as a husband and a father”.